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HELSINKI—Canada continued to spin its wheels as the preliminary round ended at the world junior hockey championship, dropping a 5-2 decision to Sweden. Here are the key moments.

MINORS MAJOR

At 4:20 of the first period, Jake Virtanen — part of Team Canada’s leadership group — was called for roughing, the first of 10 minor penalties handed to Canadians on the day. Alex Nylander scored 17 seconds into that power play, establishing a lead that Sweden — which found the net three times with the man advantage — would not surrender. “It was tough to get those calls against us. I thought some calls were so-so. We just have to stay disciplined,” said Virtanen.

HERE COMES FINLAND

Eight minutes into the first period, word came that Finland and beaten the Czech Republic and would be Canada’s opponent in Saturday’s quarter-finals. The result of the game wouldn’t matter: Canada was locked in as the third seed in its pool. But the Canadians’ effort would matter and things weren’t going well, down 2-0 at that point. “It’s single elimination now. That’s our focus,” said Team Canada captain Brayden Point.

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HIT PARADE

About halfway through the first period, Canada started throwing the body around more. Travis Konecny was especially physical, and even Leaf prospect Mitch Marner launched big checks. It paid off for a while. The swing in momentum led to Mitchell Stephens’ goal at 15:51, giving Canada some life. “That’s the style we want to play. The big challenge is, it’s a hard way to play,” said Team Canada coach Dave Lowry.

BRIEF DAYLIGHT

Late in the third and down 4-1, Canada got a late power-play opportunity. Mitch Marner dipsy-doodled and scored a beauty at 14:10. There was still enough time on the clock for a comeback, and Canada was pressing. Canadian fans in the stands, silenced for most of the night, were suddenly louder than the Swedish supporters. “I don’t think our game’s where we’d like it to be,” said defenceman Joe Hicketts.

SWEDISH SWITCH

With three minutes and 49 seconds to go and Canada gaining steam, Sweden switched goalies. Starter Linus Soderstrom went straight to the dressing room, no explanation given. Backup Felix Sandstrom faced just one shot the rest of the way. Canada, again, passed up too many scoring chances. “It feels pretty good, actually (to beat Canada). It was a tough game, but we were much better,” said Swedish forward Dmytro Timashov.

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